Mitchikanibikok Inik (Algonquin's of Barriere Lake) resist Quebec game warden harassment

Game Wardens attacked by (Mitchikanibikok Inik) Algonquins of Barriere Lake when trying to search them for beaver pelts. At the time the Algonquins were resisting the imposition of a beaver trapline monitoring system on their unceded lands, which was in conflict with their traditional systems of land tenure. The game wardens had insisted they draw maps of their territories so they could be forced to pay fees and be issued beaver trapping licenses. Part of their resistance to this provincial assertion of jurisdiction was to refuse to draw the maps of their territory and thus they were not issued licenses and harassed by game wardens. On this day in 1947, a group of 15 Algonquins were harassed by the game wardens and resisted having their bags searched. From the game wardens report the women "pointed guns at us" and as the women "start to hit us with paddles and whatever they could find... I have been in some mix-up with Indians but never seen the like of this trouble we had. We did the very best we could to find the beaver pelts... I was lucky to see one [slur for Native woman] who was getting ready to hit Constable Christie with an axe and stopped her." The Algonquins escaped without losing their pelts nor being charged. Their struggle for control of their lands is ongoing. This account from the book Grounded Authority: The Algonquins of Barriere Lake Against the State by Shiri Pasternak. Details from the journal of René Lévesque, Quebec Game Warden.